Well I am now officially a trail runner! The Xterra Trail series made another stop on
Sunday, July 13 in Columbia as the series came to Harbison State Forrest for is
second stop of the year.
I was excited for this race, as I have planned to do three
other Xterra races at Harbison but have either been a week out from the Disney
Marathon trip or have been sick.
A beautiful morning greeted all runners with sunny skies and
a wonderful, but very humid 71 degrees.
Having no idea for what I was in for, I elected to wear my Camelbak
hydration pack as although there were five aid stations on the course, I was
concerned with just how much room and water was carried deep into the woods. It turned out to be a good decision!
The second big question was concerning footwear. While I am an ardent Saucony Kinvara 4 fan
and I do have a pair of Saucony Kinvara 2 trail shoes, I was torn what to wear
today. Unfortunately I was not able to
practice on the trails so I had to make a decision based on friend’s advice and
gut feeling.
With a 62-mile week in the books, my left foot was a bit
tender and my Kinvara 2 trail shoes, while flexible were still a bit stiff and
I was worried the stiffness would affect my foot. After changing shoes twice, I opted for my
Kinvara 4 minimal road shoes and off to the starting line I went. That turned out to work but I will need to
find a good trail show that has some support and cushioning but still a minimal
feel. I think the Saucony Kinvara 2
Trail Shoe will work, I just need to practice in them.
It was good to see Elliott and Lish Dominick, Ann and Scott
Prince, Cindy Long, Betty Best and Dr. David Hale at the event. Elliott and Lish’s 15 son Avery was also
running the event. Avery is an avid and talented runner and ended up winning
today’s event with a time of 1:21 and beat the second place person by 3:06, an
amazing time and an even better young man. (the triathlon bug has also bitten
him and he has a ton of potential in both running and triathlon)
The race was a total blast!
As I thought, the course was very technical and it took a lot of
concentration to watch the ground and the runners ahead of you. While I saw several people meet the ground in
a less than graceful fashion, I also saw many “award winning” near misses and
great saves that would make a ballerina proud.
One goal was to stay on my two feet the entire race and good, clean
hands at the end of the race would mean goal number one was complete –and it
was.
Another goal was to run this race as a training run and not
get swept up in the moment and overrun my ability on a trail course, seeing as
I don’t have any experience and didn’t want to end up injured.
The races stated with a “spirited” pace but soon settled in
to a nice run. The first two miles of
the course were relatively benign and relatively flat which made for some fast
running. I always get a kick out of the start of races as a lot of folks get
caught up in the moment and go out in a flurry of speed, only to blow up or
tire considerably before half way.
Although I’m not fast, I am a decent runner and its always a good
feeling knowing I settled into the race and am able to catch a lot of these
folks as the race continues. Today was
no exception.
Miles 3-7 were very technical and hilly as we entered the
“Spider Woman” trail. While never one to walk in a race, the boulders and
rocks, coupled with the intense elevation called for brief bits of walking to
make sure I had secure footing and didn’t do my best Humpty Dumpty
impersonation. Goal accomplished.
While making a HUGE mistake in not eating when I got up
(while do I always do that) I had a good plan and stuck to it. I let the race
come to me, controlled my pace and watched my footing. I was very pleased with my conditioning as I
figured I was moving faster than I had anticipated or planned for but due to
the dense forest, my GPS watch was less than accurate so I had to run by feel.
I had 62 miles of running this week and 60 miles on my bike,
which I realized before the end of mile one was a “bit much” for what this
course was going to dish up. No time to think about that or burning thighs so
on with the race. My GPS told me I was
running at a 10:37 pace but I felt it closer to 9:30 I did my best Forrest Gump
impersonation and just kept running.
While learning the technical aspects of the race while on
the run, literally, my plan was to take advantage of my hill running ability
and crest each hill strong, take a controlled down hill approach to save my
thighs and once on the flats let my heart rate settle down and settle into a
manageable pace. I had to laugh at mile
three as I had one person behind me breathing so hard I was praying he did not
drop over from heart or respiratory failure.
I am sure Harbison State Forrest is beautiful but with very
narrow trails and a lot of sharp climbs and descents I only saw about 10% of
it. Once through the elevation and rocks of Spider Woman we were rewarded with
a nice stretch of wide trails and a mile of flat, beautiful trail. I did learn that the trail was so narrow in
spots it was literally impossible to pass so a little advance recon was in
order and I had to pick my spots and make a move.
Once clear of Spider Woman, the trail thinned out and I had
a lot of space to work in. I was able to
regain my race pace and cruised relatively easy to the finish. While there will
still some hills to work, I shortened my stride and was able to climb the long,
mild grades much easier than some of the other racers.
I was very happy to see the finish line and see May and
Elli, the best support team anyone could ask for! Elli was ringing her cowbell and I was
especially happy for the ice-cold towel and the ability to sit enjoy the
moment.
I ended up with at time of 2:01:27 and a 9:17 pace, much
faster than I thought. I was 55 out of 177 men and was 76th overall out of 309 entrants. My foot was also in
good shape. While tired and my thighs were extremely sore, I was in good shape
and my IRONMAN training along with my strength training definitely paid off. I was surprised to see a lot of fellow
triathletes competing in this race and we all shared some good conversation.
I was happy with my first trail race and based on some of
the mistakes I made (no food prior to race and high mileage week) coupled with
a cautious approach to the race, I think I can shape 10-12 minutes off the next
event on that course.
It was a great event and great morning for a quiet romp
through nature. Elli had a great time playing with other children, looking for
rocks and doing a little running herself.
As you can see, she was pooped on the way home.
Elli’s favorite place is Moe’s Southwestern Grill so off we
went (after a great show) for tons of veggies in The Homewrecker Burrito and
then off for some errands and a fund Sunday.
I am definitely hooked and the experience codified my desire to head to
the mountains and take on a long ultra race next year.
Happy training and racing everyone!
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